TickTock
by Ahxis
Summary: 'It hurts. Stop it. STOP IT' But we need power...Power is what we need to survive.


**Author's Note: Let me tell you. This started out in my brain as a small, mindless drabble thing that was only going to be maybe 100-or-so words long. Really super short. I just felt like writing since I fell absolutely in Love with _Pandora Hearts._ The idea was small, but it wouldn't stop nagging at my head before I at least attempted to get it down.**

**And then it became this. **

**I can't say I'm really happy with this, because this is still only the second thing I've written in almost a year. But...I dunno. I'm kind of happy with it, I guess? Bah, whatever. ~ Enjoy this if you can! :D**

**Disclaimer: Wishing alone won't get me the ownership of Pandora Hearts...as much as I wish it would.   
**

_It hurts._

"AHAHAHAHA! You're `gonna wish you never crossed me you damn low-level Chain!"

_It hurts._

"Alice! Behind you!"

"Ehh?"

She turned, quickly, to raise her scythe up in front of her to protect against the claws of a Trump before slashing away at it mercilessly. Her white gloves were red. Her shoes were red. Her cloths were red. The fur of the B-Rabbit, were red. The street was painted in red. Gil, the person who had called out to her to warn her, was red. Everything was red.

I was red.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! I'll destroy all of you and teach you not to mess with the legendary B-Rabbit!"

Slash. Jump. Dodge. Jump. Slash. Block. Kill.

_It hurts._

"Oz!"

Gil's voice. He was standing in front of me, shooting away at the numerous enemies that surrounded us. Alice was just ahead doing the same; Gil was backing her up, while she took the lead. They were fighting. What was I doing, then? I don't have that gun anymore. What am I doing?

"Ahh…What is it?" I hear myself say as I meet his gaze when he turns to me. His eyes are stone but not, because I see them soften when he gazes at me. I must be red, like him. Like Alice. Like killers.

"Are you alright, Oz?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Smile. "In front of you!" Shoot.

_It hurts._

I can feel it. That pull, that tug, that gripping-constricting feeling around my heart; that time bomb. That power that isn't mine. I can feel it. It's crippling. I want to fall to my knees, to scream, to cry to…to die. It hurts. _It hurts._

"HEY, SEAWEED HEAD! GET OVER HERE AND COVER ME!"

It's Alice's voice. Gil gives me one more hard glance before running forward to where the Rabbit stood; scythe in hand, ready to take on another swarm of Chain's. There were no contractors to be seen. Just an endless array of Trump's and Chain's and blood.

"Oz?~"

A new voice; Break. He's here, too. Lady Sharon didn't follow us this time, likely because Break knew the mayhem that would ensue. But I knew that she was watching from his shadow. And if not his, mine. If not mine, Gil's, of not Gil's, Alice's. There was nothing that escaped her eyes if she could help it.

_It hurts._

"Hmm..?~ I wonder…Who will outlive the other, out of the two of us?"

I feel my head jerk up and I'm met with Break's grinning face; his sword is drawn and being held over his shoulder as he stares down at me, and he knows. Just like Lady Sharon, Break knows everything. But now isn't the time for that…

"I thought that you weren't in any rush to let Alice have the satisfaction of being rid of you?" My voice is light, and I turn myself away from him. My back is to him, but I can still feel his eyes staring at me, through me, everything. I place a hand on my hips and suddenly there's a noise, like shadows moving, and I turn back around to look at him.

"Break?"

"Ahh, that's true.~ I'm in no rush to die…However, that doesn't mean that death is inevitable. So I wonder…who's clock is further along?"

His back is to me now, and the noise I heard was coming from him. Shadows were pouring out from him, oozing into a solid shape until it stood like a pillar above him: Mad Hatter. The Chain that had the power to erase the very existence of anything that came from the Abyss.

"Break! You can't use that here—Alice and Gil will handle this, you could die!"

_It hurts. Don't scream, don't even move. Every small function vibrates a ripple of pain, stop it…_

"Ohh?~ Same goes for you, allowing B-Rabbit out for this long.~"

Hatter releases forth a few shadow-arms from his form directly at a group of nearby Trumps; the creatures immediately disintegrating into black mist upon contact. Break stumbled forward soon after and coughed; red liquid falling to the ground in front of him as he struggled to keep his composure in front of me. I could see the tremors that were shaking his body as he wiped his mouth and allowed Hatter to take out another surrounding group of Chains; the action that previously sent him stumbling now causing him to collapse onto the wet ground. Rain was appropriate. Maybe it could wash all of this away.

"Break!" My eyes are wide, and Hatter retracts back out of existence as I take two long strides forward to get to where the man lay. I dropped myself down onto my knees limply and ignored the rocketing sense of pain that shot through me and turned him over onto his back; pulling him carefully towards me so his head was on my lap. Heavy breathing. "Break, answer me!"

It takes a few beats, but finally his eyes open and he's grinning again, only this time to turn his head to the side and cough again as blood spattered onto the ground yet again. "Oz,~ you're too kind~ I guess I might be going before you…"

Hatter slowly rises up from him again and takes form; the large towering Chain dominating over the surrounding area that we all were in. Where was Gil? Alice? Where was Alice?

"Stop it, Break! Those two can handle these—there's no need for you to help us this time!" My body gives another sudden lurch as I feel my heart pounding beneath my skin; uneven beats drumming through my body as I struggle for a clear breath, clenching the hand that was currently occupying one of Break's shoulders. "T..They can handle this…"

There's power. There's power there, under this clock, over my heart. There's power, and Alice isn't using it all. If she does, then she can get rid of all these monsters. Break will live. He doesn't have to die, I just have to release it, that's all, right? I can do this. They need power, and I have it!

"O-Oz?"

Break's voice is dull when it passes through my ears; a steady ringing noise pervading through my head as I raise my head up to stare at the sky.

I feel warm. The rain doesn't even feel like it's hitting me anymore…

"Oz!"

It's Break again. Hatter's gone again, and his form is no longer obscuring the sky.

_It hurts._

"Alice…"

_It hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS!_

"Finish them, with this…"

_Stop it, don't do this! I'm scared, I'm scared! I'm scared to die! I could die! DIE! STOP IT! IT HURTS!_

"ALICE!"

**x-x-x-x-x-x**

"Shit, SHIT there's so many!" My ears are pinned back in malice as I stare out in front of me. Gil's out of bullets, and I'm…Damn I'm losing to a bunch of low-class Chain's! This isn't fair, there are far more than us! Even for me..—Even for me to handle…

"What's the matter, B-Rabbit? Getting tired? Why don't you just lay down…AND DIE!" My black eyes narrow in this form as I jump up again and throw my scythe down into the Chain in front of me; instantly cutting through it's hard body. Jeez, just one after the other…

"AHAHAHHA! YOU THINK I WOULD BE DEFEATED BY ONE OF YOU?" I laugh, but the reality of the situation is starting to sink in. There are so many of these guys, dancing to the tune that the Will of the Abyss is playing. It's never ending..!

"Hey, Seaweed head! What the hell do we do now!"

"Agh…We have to get out of here…But, this city…"

"_Alice…"_

What? My name? And was…Was that Oz?

"Oy…Gil, did you hear that?"

I lower my scythe for a moment and allow myself to step carefully back onto the ground and stare off to the side. That…That was Oz.

"Here what?"

He didn't hear it. But that was definitely Oz's voice. Where ever he is.

"HEY! Can you hear me!"

Gil was staring at me like I had grown a third arm, but I didn't care. I didn't like the way that he said my name. It left a bitter taste in my mouth that meat wouldn't even be able to get rid of.

"_Finish them, with this…"_

"Oz? OZ!"

Finish? He says that, but I'm running out of power as it is, and with his body as beat up as it was when he released B-Rabbit…

"Alice?" Gil's worried expression settles on me, but I remain impassive. I can feel something burning inside me, and I want it. I want to take it. But this…this feeling, something bad is…-

"_ALICE!"_

"Oz, Wh—AH!"

Power. It's there, that's it! That's what I need! All of my power is back, my strength…! It's returned!

"AHAHAHAAHA! YOU LOWLY CHAINS ARE FINISHED! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

_Because as a girl with no memories, power was the only thing I understood. It was the only thing I remembered, definitely, as being me. It was comforting. _

_But power didn't make me Alice. Oz taught me that. Having the overpowering strength of B-Rabbit, didn't make me Alice. Is that why…this power, that was once a comfort…_

…_Suddenly made me sad?_

**x-x-x-x-x-x**

"S-Such…Unbelievable…"

My gun had run out of bullets long ago, and it seemed like it was a losing battle. Alice was cutting down enemies at a considerably slower rate, and was starting to have trouble with them. It seemed like it was a losing battle…but…

They were gone. Every last one of them. The city was left with the sweeping silence that was only accompanied by the pounding of the rain, and our shallow breathing.

She took every one of them out, in just one blow. One, overwhelmingly powerful blast. And they were all gone.

"Alice…?"

I watched as she slowly floated back down onto the ground and B-rabbit faded; leaving only her small human form in its place as she stood there, staring at her hands."

"Did I….? –OZ!"

She wiped her head quickly around to stare at me; violet eyes wide and fearful and –were those tears?

"We have to go! We have to go find Oz, now!"

I was instantly back on my feet and following her as she suddenly took off in the direction that we had previously came. Alice had said Oz's name before…Could he have said something? Was my master in trouble? I realized that I had slowed down to a stop when my thoughts wandered to that, and Alice was already turning a corner ahead of me. I needed to catch up to make sure—

"OZ!"

My heart sank when I heard her scream and I quickly dashed forward to catch up to her. And the moment I turned that corner, I caught sight of what made her scream. Oz was laying there on his side, withering in pain as Break sat beside him; a hand clenching the younger boys shoulder as he stared at him with pitying eyes. I didn't like this. I didn't like the solemn look Break had. It was unsettling, and out of character, and was Oz…?

My feet caught up with my brain finally and I rushed over and kneeled next to him; the younger blond not even acknowledging my presence as he kept his eyes pinched shut, trembling.

"He used too much power in order to help B-Rabbit slay the enemies. His body was in no shape to release it from the start, let alone now. Truly a reckless thing to do when at one's limit."

Break's voice as flat and his face portrayed no emotion as his downcast gaze focused on my master's form. Both of them looked like they were ready to shatter at the slightest touch—Break was just better at hiding it. Oz was clenching his chest with both hands as he struggled to breath; short, raspy breaths echoed through the empty street from his body, and we all sat there. Alice was beside me, sitting there, completely motionless and silent as she gazed at her contractor with wide eyes. The rain was the only deafening sound there.

"A….Ali..ce..Are th..ey..G..one?"

I turned my head away from Oz as I heard his small voice; Break doing the same. All it did was reinforce the reality that was in front of us. The one we didn't want to accept. Alice was the only one who continued to look at him. Watching him. From the corner of my eye I saw her gulp in a breath and wrap her arms around herself.

"O-Of course..! I have you to thank for that, Oz..! A-As my manservant, you need to know exactly what I n-need, when I need it..!"

Her head was cast downwards at the ground as she hugged herself; her own small frame shaking from what appeared to be tears, but her voice remained strong. I turned back to Oz, and his eyes were still closed and I knew that was why she was doing that. He couldn't see, only hear. She wanted to be strong for him…And I couldn't even do anything. As my master's servant, I was so powerless, twice now…

"I..Is that so.." He rasped out, and despite his heavy panting, he smiled. From across from me, I noticed Break gripping his sheathed sword tightly in attempt to keep from shaking. His one eye was now shrouded by his hair as he stared at the ground, much like Alice, and not muttering another word, like myself.

"So…" Alice spoke up again as her fists tightened against the cloth of her skirt. "As my manservant, you should already know this…Right now…at this moment…and for every moment after…I n-need you do not die…I need you to live…"

Her voice was low, and her hair obscuring her gaze much like Break's, but it maintained a fairly steady tone despite how shaken she looked, and probably felt. To say something like that…something that we were all thinking, in some form or another…

"H-Haa…T..That's right…" He suddenly coughed, and brought both of his hands to his mouth as his body constricted and spasmed in its desperate attempt to keep functioning before falling still. He had managed to roll himself on his back, and with the way his cloths were torn, you could clearly see the clock that was branded on his chest. The mark of an illegal contractor; the mark of death. It was nearly complete.

"I can't make…you suffer..can I? So..Alice…"

Oz's eyes opened slightly as he peered up; his eyes hazy and unfocused.

"I'm…releasing you from this contract…as I am no longer…an able body…Those were the requirements needed…fo..r..the contract to be broken..and for the chain..not..to be d-dragged down with the contractor…."

Alice's head jerked up violently, and her tear soaked face could be seen. She looked like she was about to say something, to protest, but before she could even utter out a word the black mark on Oz's chest glowed purple, and ticked straight to twelve o'clock, completing the design. And the moment that happened, the area surrounding Oz's body became enveloped in that same, murky purple color it had the day he was taken, and swallowed into the Abyss. The very force that came to take him again.

"NO! NONONONONO! OZ! OZ!"

Alice made a reach for him but was abruptly cut short by Break; the older man struggling to even hold the young girl back as she kicked and tried to pry his arms away to get to Oz-my master-as he sank into the Abyss.

"OZ! LET ME GO YOU DUMB CLOWN OZ IS LEAVING I HAVE TO SAVE HIM!" Alice's frantic cried pierced the air around us, and Break clenched his jaw. "YOU! YOU DAMN SEAWEED HEAD! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO SIT THERE WHILE YOUR MASTER IS DISAPPEARING! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO SIT THERE FOR A SECOND TIME, DOING NOTHING? HUH? HUH!"

Her cried reached me, but I couldn't move. I couldn't move a single muscle to protect the one person I had sworn—twice over—to protect. I was failing, again…And I caught glimpse of him before the ground closed, and the portal disappeared. Before Alice finally broke free of Break's grasp, and started pounding at the ground where Oz had just lay. Before she was on top of me, punching me, and grabbing my collar and _pleading _at me as to why I didn't save my master.

I didn't have any answers. Even now, I couldn't get my body to respond to anything. Everything was numb, every voice a dull whisper, every gaze a hazy picture. All that was burned into my mind were his last few moments. His last… His last…

_Thank you, Gil. _

The world around me broke, and suddenly, nothing else mattered.

**AN: And there you have it. My musings around two in the morning. **

**If it seemed like it was weird that, while I was in Gil's POV that he wasn't talking, I'm sorry. I kind of realized it midway through, but thought that maybe it was okay since...well, Gil can be like that, right? Blindly shocked at what's happened, that all he can do is sit, and watch and analyze but not physically respond. That just kind of striked me as the guy Gil can be like. Sorry if it brought him, or anyone else completely OOC. That completely wasn't my intention. D: **

**Hope you enjoyed! R&R if you like. I'd love to know what you thought of this; even if you think it was a complete fail! :D  
**


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